]]>http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/08/20/uncategorized/august-20-2014.html/feed0August 9, 2014http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/08/09/uncategorized/august-9-2014.html
http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/08/09/uncategorized/august-9-2014.html#commentsSat, 09 Aug 2014 11:30:56 +0000http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/?p=100777“Look at the price of gas and all those SUVs. It’s a living hell!”

After a lifetime of public service , Dr. Beurt R. SerVaas was called to “final duty” on February 2, 2014. Son of Beurt Hans and Lela Etta (nee Neff) SerVaas, Dr. SerVaas was born in Indianapolis on May 7, 1919.

A 1937 graduate of Shortridge High School, Dr. SerVaas was named to the high honor roll for all four years. At 15, he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. Sixty years later the national Scouting organization honored him as a Distinguished Eagle Scout. He continued to serve scouting and was named one of Indiana’s most distinguished scouts of the past 100 years. He obtained an amateur radio license from the Federal Communications Commission, also at 15, and to generations of amateur radio operators thereafter he was known as W9WVO.

Although awarded a scholarship to Indiana University, SerVaas lacked funds to live on the Bloomington campus, so he took a janitorial job at the Indianapolis IU Extension Division while carrying a full load of science classes. He needed to learn Spanish to qualify for jobs in Argentina, so SerVaas, with a $35 loan from his Grandfather Neff, hitchhiked to Mexico City and enrolled at the University of Mexico.

SerVaas (center) served in the China theatre in World War II as a commanding naval officer.

When war broke out in Europe in 1939, SerVaas returned home to study at IU, graduating in May 1941 with a degree in chemistry, history, and Spanish. He accepted a position at Shortridge High School where he taught chemistry and Spanish, and commuted to Purdue University as a DuPont scholar to complete post-graduate work in chemistry.

Recruited by the newly formed Office of Strategic Services (OSS, now known as the CIA), SerVaas served in the China theatre in World War II as a naval officer commanding a group of 15 men. The group flew from a small airbase in India and jumped into the outback of southwestern China with only a rucksack filled with survival gear, weapons, and a radio transceiver–the only link to the American command. Their mission was to disrupt Japanese river supply lines, train Chinese troops, and work with a newly formed OSS group to establish intelligence resources essential in preparing for the invasion of the Japanese mainland.

As the war in China ebbed, SerVaas was assigned a potential suicide mission still legendary in the intelligence community. The American command in China sent SerVaas, alone and armed only with cyanide suicide pills, to the heavily fortified Japanese garrison on Formosa (Taiwan) with a surrender demand. Successful in the mission, SerVaas received a battlefield commission to Navy Lieutenant, the Bronze Star, and was invited to return to Taiwan with Chinese and American officials to witness the Japanese surrender ceremony.

Ten years after the war, SerVaas was invited back to Taiwan to receive the Chiang Kai-shek Medal of Honor. Later, Taipei city officials, urged by SerVaas, formed a sister city alliance with Indianapolis, a partnership still working for the economic and cultural benefit of both populations.

Using $5,600 he saved during his long war years, SerVaas bought a four-person electroplating company on the eastside of Indianapolis. A fan of a particularly effective cleanser/polish he used on his plated metals, SerVaas then purchased Bar Keepers Friend from the Gisler family in the late 1950s.

Once established as an entrepreneur, SerVaas, known as the “business doctor,” continued to purchase and aid in the recovery of plants that manufactured school buses, truck engines, food machinery, chemicals, auto parts, pharmaceuticals, and magazines. His initiation into heavy manufacturing came when he took North Vernon Forge out of bankruptcy, and eventually acquired additional plants in Michigan, east Chicago, and Ohio.

Former President Ronald Reagan (left) poses with a copy of The Saturday Evening Post with his portrait on the cover and a Post delivery bag. Dr. SerVaas (center), and Dr. Corey SerVaas (right) look on.

SerVaas bought control of Bridgeport Brass from absentee owners and saved more than 1,000 jobs for Indianapolis. Later, at the urging of Mayor Bill Hudnut, he “rescued” historic downtown Uniroyal Rubber Company, saving another 600 jobs. SerVaas also purchased struggling Franklin Power in Franklin, Indiana. With the purchase of the then-bankrupt Curtis Publishing Company, SerVaas brought the famed magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, to Indianapolis from Philadelphia.

His business interests were international in scope with operations in Canada, Mexico, South Africa, Italy, Poland and the UK. In Poland, he built the first color TV manufacturing plant in Eastern Europe, prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain.

With a doctorate in Medical Science, SerVaas served as chairman of the Governor’s Indiana State Commission on Medical Education. The group brought together forces for the implementation of SerVaas’s plan for medical school reorganization, which passed the Indiana General Assembly without one dissenting vote.

Dr. SerVaas served as chairman of the Governor’s Indiana State Commission on Medical Education, chairman of the original State Commission for Higher Education where he helped plan for the development of IUPUI, and served on the Indiana State Board of Health’s board of directors.

SerVaas later became chairman of the original State Commission for Higher Education where, with the partnership of IU President John Ryan, he helped plan for the development of IUPUI. He also served on the Indiana State Board of Health’s board of directors.

Always a proponent for healthy lifestyles, Dr. SerVaas was one of the founders of the National Institute for Fitness and Sport (NIFS). As its early chairman of the board, he helped raise $12 million from the city, state, and the Lilly Endowment for the institute’s creation bordering White River State Park.

After Dr. SerVaas lost a kidney in surgery, he searched for a better way to relieve such suffering. He found a German instrument which shatters kidney stones with sound waves, allowing out-patient operations at a very reasonable cost and under local anesthetic. Naming the instrument a Lithotripter, SerVaas helped fund the cost of bringing it to Methodist Hospital where, still today, it relieves kidney stone suffering with its innovative technology.

Dr. SerVaas often told how his native city was nicknamed “India-noplace” or “Naptown.” During the 11 years of the Depression, no new buildings were erected; banks failed, and the city was gray, dirty, and somewhat desolate. After his return from the war, he was discouraged to see that not much had improved. He entered public service to help bring about a vision of change. In 1962, SerVaas was elected to the Marion County Council where he served as a member for four years, vice president for five years, and president of the subsequent City-County Council for 32 years. Remarkably, in all 41 years of leadership, he never missed a council meeting in spite of travel to his many worldwide business interests.

SerVaas loved problem solving, and the city he served offered innumerable opportunities for his efforts, always within the framework of study and research. First among the governing challenges he faced was increasing the city tax base to help rebuild the dreary downtown. He conceived the model of Uni-Gov, a county-wide restructuring which was enacted–under the leadership of Mayor Richard Lugar– by the General Assembly in 1967. The visionary form of government helped propel Indianapolis to national recognition as a clean, safe, exciting, and prosperous place to live and work.

His support for the Indy Greenways was instrumental in the eventual development of a county-wide system. He took an avid interest in neighborhood organizations and helped fund improvements at Holliday Park and the purchase of the Juan Solomon Park addition. He believed in and supported comprehensive land-use planning, initiated the upgrade of Monument Circle, and played a major role in bringing the Colts to Indianapolis.

Beurt married wife Corey Synhorst on February 4, 1950.

Decorated World War II China theatre combat officer; family patriarch; business, political, and civic leader; advocate for healthy living; advisor, mentor, and friend of national and international leaders, Dr. Beurt R. SerVaas received many citations and honors. Recipient of honorary degrees from four institutions of higher learning; induction into the Central Indiana Business, IU Alumni and Indianapolis Public Schools Halls of Fame; named Sagamore of the Wabash by four Indiana governors; and having the City-County Building’s auditorium designated as the Dr. Beurt R. SerVaas Public Assembly Room are some of the recognitions he was awarded. He was especially pleased to receive the Horatio Alger National Award in Detroit in 1980–the honor recognizes community leaders who demonstrate remarkable achievements through honesty, hard work, self-reliance, and perseverance over adversity.

The funeral service is at 3p.m. Saturday, February 8, 2014 at Second Presbyterian Church, 7700 N. Meridian Street, Meridian Hills, IN 46260 with calling there from 1p.m. until service time. Burial follows immediately at Washington Park North located at 2706 Kessler Blvd. West Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46228. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Dr. SerVaas’s honor to the Scottish Rite Cathedral Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, Indianapolis Humane Society, or National Institute for Fitness and Sport.

]]>http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/04/17/uncategorized/the-saturday-evening-post-mourns-the-loss-of-owner-dr-beurt-r-servaas.html/feed1Six Music Prodigies That Made it Bighttp://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/04/17/uncategorized/six-music-prodigies-that-made-it-big.html
http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/04/17/uncategorized/six-music-prodigies-that-made-it-big.html#commentsWed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/?p=96523Child Stars are nothing new. They say music is the universal language, and as long as music has been around, kids have understood its appeal as well as anyone. Still, understanding is different from actually creating music. Some kids really were born to play. All of these stars were drawn to music at a young […]

]]>Child Stars are nothing new. They say music is the universal language, and as long as music has been around, kids have understood its appeal as well as anyone.

Still, understanding is different from actually creating music. Some kids really were born to play. All of these stars were drawn to music at a young age–some as young as three-years-old. What makes these stars stand out is how they have adapted over the years, building legacies that lasted well beyond their young ambitions.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

A young Mozart, as painted by Pietro Antonio Lorenzoni

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, born 1756, might be the most fantastic child prodigy who ever lived. When his older sister began music lessons in 1759, a three-year-old Wolfgang looked on and began to play music on the clavier when he had the chance. At four his father began teaching young Wolfgang basic pieces, and at five Wolfgang composed his first original piece of music.

He went on to spend almost all of his youth, from the ages of seven through seventeen, on tour as a musical prodigy. At the age of 14 he visited Rome, heard Gregorio Allegri’s Miserere twice, and transcribed the piece from memory. The piece was forbidden from being copied – the Vatican only allowed it to be played in the Sistine Chapel, and even then only twice a year – and the Pope summoned Mozart to Rome upon hearing the young musician had published the work. But instead of punishing him, the Pope personally congratulated young Mozart for his musical genius, and even released the piece for publication. Not bad for a teenager.

At 17, Mozart began work as a court musician in Salzberg. A few years later he moved to Vienna, where he had one of the most successful careers in the history of music, composing operas such as The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni, as well as hundreds of symphonies, chamber pieces and other works. He died in 1791, leaving his famous Requiem Mass unfinished.

Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder in 1963, as photographed by Vytas Valaitis

Stevie Wonder was already a multi-instrumentalist at 11 years old, when Ronnie White of the Miracles brought him him in to audition before Motown founder Berry Gordy. Gordy liked what he saw: ‘Little Stevie’ released his first two albums in 1962, and had his first major hit, the song “Fingertips”, in 1963.

The Post actually covered Stevie Wonder in October 1963, in an article on teen pop titled “The Dumb Sound” (Oops). When it comes to this ‘sound’, writer Alfred Aronowitz emphasizes uniqueness over straightforward, lyrical content:

The main gimmick on any pop record, in fact, is the sound. “That’s what the kids listen for,” says Dick Clark, who, as conductor of ABC-TV’s American Bandstand since 1957, has been in the business of helping to decide what the kids listen to. “The more different, the more original, the more unique the sound is, the more chance a record stands of becoming a hit.”

At the time, Stevie Wonder was riding high on the strength of “Fingertips”, which had reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 that summer. He wasn’t the only young star around — the article mentions a number of other teenage or preteen contemporaries. But most have these have since been forgotten. Stevie Wonder, on the other hand, went on to record over 30 U.S. top ten hits.

Part of what made Stevie Wonder such a long-term success was that he kept innovating. As he got older, he kept adding elements of genres such as funk and jazz, while playing with new technologies that included synthesizers, talk boxes and sampling. It also helped that he wrote most of his own songs, and that he was a talented enough songwriter to come up with so many classics.

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson remains one of the most well-known — and most complicated — child stars of our time. Like the others on our list, Michael Jackson got into music at an exceptionally early age. He joined his older brothers’ band as a backup musician at the age of six, and by the time he was eight he was sharing lead vocals with his brother Jermaine. The Jackson 5 had a string of number one hits in the 1960s, including classics such as “ABC” and “I Want You Back”.

Jackson actually learned a little from another name on this list: Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder describes meeting Michael Jackson when the singer was around ten years old:

He would always come into the studio curious about how I worked and what I did. “How do you do that? Why do you do that?” I think he understood clearly from seeing various people do the music scene that it definitely took work.

Michael Jackson continued his interest in Stevie Wonder’s recording techniques as both men developed as artists. When Stevie Wonder was making some of his greatest work in the 1970s, Jackson often sat in on his recording sessions:

I wanted to experience it all. So Stevie Wonder used to literally let me sit like a fly on the wall. I got to see Songs in the Key of Life get made, some of the most golden things.

Not too long after watching Wonder record Songs in the Key of Life, Michael Jackson released his solo breakthrough, Off the Wall. Like Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson began writing his own songs and integrating new elements of genres such as funk, disco, and modern pop into his music.

Justin Timberlake

Yes, those are cornrows. Source: Virgin Media

Like many young performers at the time, Justin Timberlake first appeared on the TV show Star Search. Back then, the 11-year-old from Memphis played country music under the name Justin Randall.

Though he didn’t win Star Search, his appearance there helped Justin Timberlake land a spot on the childrens’ variety show Mickey Mouse Club in 1993. It was there that he first met Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, as well as JC Chasez, whom Timberlake recruited into the newly forming boy band N’Sync. The band released its self-titled debut album in 1998, which sold 11 million copies and made Timberlake a 17-year-old superstar.

N’Sync soon became one of the most successful pop acts of the 1990s, with over 50 million total albums sold. Since the group broke up in 2002, Justin Timberlake has released four solo albums, three of which topped the Billboard 200 list. He has also starred in a number of movies, including the critically acclaimed films The Social Network and Inside Llewyn Davis, which is currently in theaters. The 20/20 Experience, which Timberlake released last March, was the bestselling album of 2013.

Britney Spears

The Mickey Mouse Club of the early 90s. That’s Ryan Gosling and Britney Spears in the front row, and Justin Timberlake in the back right. Source: Buena Vista Pictures

Born in 1981, Britney Spears started dance and voice lessons at the age of three and began performing publicly at the age of five. At 11, she joined the off-Broadway musical Ruthless as an understudy to the lead actress, who plays a child star. Like Justin Timberlake and many of her contemporaries, she auditioned for Star Search and joined the cast of The Mickey Mouse Club in 1992.

After the show ended in 1996, Britney returned to high school as a normal student–but only temporarily. In 1997 she joined the female pop group Innosense. Shortly after that, she recorded her first solo album, Baby One More Time, which sold more than ten million copies within a year. Since then she’s sold more than 100 million albums, making her one of the bestselling artists of all time.

Like some current pop stars, Britney Spears ran into some controversy as she got older–if, by controversy you mean the kind of events worth stopping the news for because they involve a celebrity doing something brash. The height of this might have been the moment Britney Spears showed up at a hair salon and shaved most of her hair off, which became a perfect example of media obsession.

Beyoncé Knowles

Beyonce’s High School Yearbook Photo. Source: www.untitledflow.com

Beyoncé Knowles began taking dance lessons and singing back in elementary school. She won her school talent show at the age of seven, beating a number of teenagers in the process. Alongside childhood friends Kelly Rowland and LaTavia Roberson, she formed the girl group Girl’s Tyme at the age of eight and — big surprise — tried out for Star Search.

They didn’t win, but in 1996 they signed a deal with Columbia Records and changed the group’s name to — wait for it — Destiny’s Child. They began recording their debut album that year, when Beyoncé was 15. The group recorded several hits over the next few years, including the songs “Survivor” and “Say My Name”.

In recent years, Beyoncé has released a series of critically acclaimed solo albums, each more ambitious than the last. Last year she took the music world by complete surprise when she released her newest album, titled Beyoncé, without any prior announcement whatsoever. The album has sold three million copies so far.

]]>http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/04/17/uncategorized/six-music-prodigies-that-made-it-big.html/feed0Famous Midlife Career Changershttp://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/02/20/uncategorized/famous-career-changers.html
http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2014/02/20/uncategorized/famous-career-changers.html#commentsThu, 20 Feb 2014 13:00:22 +0000http://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/?p=96698A Nobel Prize winner, a legendary female comedian, a president, and more who owe their success to making a brave midlife career change.

]]>Changing careers in your 30s, 40s, 50s, or even 60s can seem daunting or downright foolish to some. But for a Nobel Prize winner, a legendary female comic, and more, risky—and often multiple—midlife job swaps led to their success.

Toni Morrison

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Beloved and the first black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, Morrison started her professional career as an English professor in Texas, and then taught in Washington, D.C. In her 30s, she moved to New York to become an editor at Random House (first working on textbooks and then moving on to a senior editor position). She published her first novel, The Bluest Eye, at age 40.

John Grisham

Though he’s spent most of his adult life writing best-selling legal thrillers such as Sycamore Row and The Pelican Brief, Grisham spent the first part of his life as a lawyer and political figure. He published his first book, A Time To Kill, at 33, but the 5,000 copies printed received little-to-no recognition. His big break came four years later when he sold the film rights to his second novel The Firm to Paramount Pictures, before it was even published.

Rodney Dangerfield

Salesman Jacob Cohen had been moonlighting as a standup comic since his early 20s. He finally “got some respect” after his debut performance—under stage name Rodney Dangerfield (left)—on The Ed Sullivan Show at age 46. After long-awaited success, he began acting in his 50s and opened Dangerfield’s Comedy Club, whose stage welcomed little-known comics such as Jerry Seinfeld, Roseanne Barr, and Jim Carrey (right).

Kathryn Joosten

The two-time Emmy Award-winning actress decided to take acting classes at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago in her 40s while she was working full-time as a psychiatric nurse. Joosten moved all the way to Buena Vista, Florida, for her first acting gig as a Walt Disney World performer.

Harland Sanders

Before he convinced the world that 11 is the prime number for a “finger lickin’ good” spice blend, the honorary Kentucky colonel was the ultimate career changer. Army mule-tender, railroad worker, and gas station operator were just a few jobs he held before buying a restaurant in his 40s. There he perfected his Kentucky Fried Chicken, but Sanders really got cooking at age 65 when he was put out of business and turned his recipe into a franchise.

Martha Stewart

Although the homemaking mogul has experienced some legal trouble, Martha Stewart’s career-changing power is inspiring: The former model turned stockbroker in her 20s, and then homemaker to caterer in her 30s. After her catering company was established, she wrote her first book (on entertaining) and began selling her first line of home-goods in her 40s. Nearing and into her 50s, the famous merchandiser became a TV show host, an editor-in-chief, and the billionaire CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc.

George Foreman

The boxer-turned-minister made a heavyweight comeback winning the world championship at 45—after a 10-year hiatus. Following his win, Foreman was asked to endorse several products including the Lean Mean Grilling Machine (which he helped develop) and Meineke Car Care Centers. Since his midlife victory, Foreman has become an entrepreneur launching a line of cleaning products, shoes for diabetics, a restaurant franchise, and more, and he continues to preach at the church he founded in 1980.

Al Franken

After the former Saturday Night Live producer, writer, and cast member left the sketch comedy show, Al Franken went on to write three books of political satire that hit No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list. And he moved to radio, hosting a progressive talk show on Air America. In 2007, Franken (in his late 50s) chose to leave talk radio to pursue (and later win) a U.S. Senate seat. Franken is up for re-election this year.

Ronald Reagan

Another actor turned to politics, Ronald Reagan, is the oldest of our mid-life career changers, having been inaugurated at the age of 69. However, the 40th president of the United States took his first step from Hollywood limelight into the political spotlight in his early 50s when he became governor of California.

Ken Jeong

For comedic actor (and doctor) Ken Jeong, laughter won out over medicine. Jeong was a practicing physician performing medical checkups by day and standup routines by night in the early half of his life. He became a full-time actor in his late 30s when, oddly enough, he landed a role playing a doctor in the Judd Apatow film Knocked Up.

Phyllis Diller

Legendary comedian, actor, and author Phyllis Diller quit her day job at age 37 to pursue standup before she had even performed her first comedy routine on stage. Two years after she handed in her notice, Diller appeared on The Tonight Show and became America’s first female comedienne on tour.

More than one child must have been troubled by all these commercial Kringles. Why would Santa Claus appear in so many ads, urging people to buy gifts, when he and his elves were making all the gifts up at the North Pole?

Over the years, they saw Santa promote everything from gasoline to chewing gum, socks, typewriters, electric lights, orange juice, and antacid. Some of the more interesting versions of Santa can be seen in the 1920 ads for Interwoven socks and Kuppenheimer good clothes. They were created by the popular illustrator, and frequent Post cover artist, J.C. Leyendecker.

Here’s one weird-looking Santa from 1911:

Post cover artist J.C. Leyendecker illustrated this ad.

You can count on clothing ads to feature quality artwork.

Another Leyendecker Santa ad.

Done with Christmas, Santa begins work on his memoirs:

Santa’s elves, all hard at work making… appliances?

Whatever happened to flying reindeer?

Santa’s only request:

Still looking for gift ideas? Because everyone needs socks.

It doesn’t get more Christmas-y than this.

I guess he’s done with milk.

Even Santa needs an Alka-Seltzer sometimes.

Something’s off about this Santa…

Curious Christmas Ads

In an effort to cash in on Christmas sales, everybody from car manufacturers to tobacco companies to the United States government released Christmas-themed ads. In 1919, The Faultless Rubber Company tried to get in on the Christmas-gift-buying momentum to sell their baby bottles, hot water bottles, and enema bags. The American Chain Company used a Christmas theme to promote their tire chains and automobile jacks. Mueller Faucets selling plumbing fixtures by showing a rooftop Santa listening for dripping faucets in 1926.

Christmas is a time for giving, but it has also long been a time for buying and selling. Enjoy this selection of Christmas ads that have little to do with Christmas.

When I think Christmas, I think ‘rubber goods.’

Out of gift ideas? How about tire chains?

Here’s Santa with a sack full of knives.

Because Santa won’t go in if you have a leaky faucet.

If you want to go big, you can always give a Buick.

Is this Santa in space?

Lacquer: Another classic Christmas gift.

Who wouldn’t want to receive savings bonds on Christmas?

From model trains to the real thing.

Tobacco companies used to issue special holiday cigarette cartons.

You can make any ad a Christmas ad by adding a small child with gifts.

This Christmas ad’s a bit of a stretch.

Nothing says Christmas like ‘Pliofilm’!

Since so many people travel around Christmas, travel ads are a holiday fixture.

If dad wants a new Plymouth so bad, maybe he should ask Santa himself.

Our first issue appeared on August 4th, 1821, making us the oldest magazine in the United States. (Because our publication was interrupted in 1969, we are not the oldest continually published magazine, however; that honor is held by Scientific American.)

The Post began life as a weekly newspaper, printed on the same equipment Ben Franklin used to publish The Pennsylvania Gazette. The Post‘s four pages were crowded with dense columns of small type; there were no illustrations besides a few crude pictures of hats and boots in advertisements.

The articles may seem archaic today, but those early issues carry a lot of the same content that appears in today’s shrinking newspapers. For example, there is coverage of national news, particularly the continued growth of the country.

The President of the United Sates, by his Proclamation, dated the 10th instant, agreeable to the conditional power invested in him by an act of Congress, announce the Admission of the State of Missouri into the Union.

Meanwhile, Andrew Jackson was taking up his appointment as Florida’s first governor. The territory had recently been purchased from Spain, and Jackson was eager to prove the absolute authority of the U.S. in the region.

The Spanish Governor of Pensacola has been arrested and thrown into prison by order of Gen. Jackson. The reasons for this procedure is his not having surrendered up all the papers which were legally claimed by the late treaty. They are now in the possession of the American authorities.

In one regard, the Post was quite unlike a modern newspaper. The owners exercised their right to include moral instruction squarely on page one. In the August 18, 1821, issue, they presented an “Admonition Against Sabbath Breaking.”

It is the duty of every Christian to observe [Sunday] as a day of rest from work, buying, selling, travelling (except in cases of great and unavoidable necessity) and from all kinds of sport and diversion. To spend the sacred time in idleness and amusement; to neglect the public and private duties of the day tends to bring the judgments of God on the country. It leads you to bad company, to a habit of idleness, drunkenness, extravagance, and so on to ruin, as many [condemned criminals] have acknowledged [shortly before their] execution.

But when it came to filling up the pages with copy, the Post did what modern newspapers still do; reprint items of passing interest from other newspapers.

A fact, to the curious.— On the 7th of June last, about five o’clock in the afternoon, there passed over Willistown (NH) and Goshen (VT), a swarm of the animal denominated the “Devil’s darning Needle” [the dragonfly]. The swarm extended a mile in width, and was more than an hour in passing from east to west.

There is now residing in Stafford, a man by the name of Nolan, who is at present married to his twenty-sixth wife, and has by the whole, seventy-three children. He is one hundred and five years of age, and his present wife is now pregnant.

The latest accounts from New Orleans, Savannah and Charleston represent those places as entirely free of malignant fever.

A patent churn has been manufactured in Orange county, (N.Y.) which can be worked by a dog!

A man has been sold at public auction, at the market house in Detroit for being found idle, and not giving an account of the manner in which he obtained a livelihood. The purchaser was to be entitled to his services for ten days, and he was then to be walked out of the territory unless he agreed to maintain himself by creditable labor.

The City Gazette of Washington says, that in [leveling the ground] in front of the President’s house, the laborers came to a spot where five graves were opened. One of the coffins was in perfect preservation, and the remains of a corpse was exposed, exhibiting long dark hair, perfectly strong and neatly folded up under the skull. [The White House grounds are] said to have been the burying ground of the Peerce family, of Bladensburg, and that the bodies have been interred about 40 years.

On one subject, there is a particularly strong resemblance between the Post of 1821 and modern newspapers. Then, as now, journalists love to report on the death of celebrities.